The government has provisionally approved 25 free schools Teachers’ leaders say a survey shows that new free schools being opened in England are not wanted or needed.
Three quarters of the 1,000 parents questioned for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) were unaware that a free school was planned for their area.
The schools – being set up by groups of parents, charities and faith bodies – will be funded directly by Westminster.
The government says the NUT is “blindly opposed” to the schools, which it argues will drive up standards.
The NUT is campaigning against free schools – and the conversion of existing schools to academy status.
Both types of school will be what the government calls independent state schools and will stand outside local authority control, with more freedom over the curriculum and teachers’ pay and conditions.
Teachers employed by them will also not need to have formal teaching qualifications.
In September, the government gave provisional approval for 16 free schools to open next September. Another nine have since also been given the go-ahead.
Divided on need
The NUT asked pollsters YouGov to survey just over 1,000 parents in 22 local authority areas of England where free schools are being planned.
When asked which groups should run schools, about half said local authorities, 43% said teachers, 30% said charities, 25% said parents and 15% private companies – people could specify as many options as they liked.
About half of those questioned said there was a need for a new school in their area – with the same amount saying there was not.
A quarter of those asked said they were in favour of a free school being set up in their area – while 31% said they were against or “tended to be against” the idea.
Michael Gove says free schools will improve standards An even greater proportion (43%) said they were neither for nor against such a school opening locally, or did not know their opinion on the issue.
Most parents questioned (72%) said they thought any new state-funded school should follow the national curriculum and that children should be taught by qualified teachers (78%).
Asked what impact they thought a free school would have on other schools in their local area, one in five said it would raise standards, while one in four said they did not know.
Christine Blower, NUT general secretary, said: “This survey clearly shows that parents are not clamouring to set up free schools, have no issue with schools being accountable to the community through democratically elected local authorities, and absolutely reject the premise of their children’s education being handed over to private companies.
“Free Schools are not wanted or needed. They are divisive and unaccountable.
“The teaching profession and parents know this. It is time the government stopped playing with the educational future of this country based on nothing more than the fact they can.”
The government says free schools will give more children the opportunity to go to a good school.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: “It’s disappointing to see the NUT continuing to blindly oppose free schools before one has even opened its doors just as they are blindly opposed to academies – schools which have proved incredibly popular with parents and pupils and have turned around under-performance in deprived areas.
“As well as teachers and charities, it’s also parents themselves who are behind many of the free school proposals – parents who want something better for their children.
“And each proposal has to show there is demand locally for the type of education they plan to offer.
“Too often the poorest families are left with the worst schools while the rich can pay for good education via private schools or house prices. Free schools will give all parents, not just the rich, the option of a good local school with great teaching, strong discipline and small class sizes.”
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